


The Hand We're Dealt

by smithandrogers



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Male V (Cyberpunk 2077), POV Second Person, Reader has the relic, Reader is a dramatic corpo kid, Reader-Insert, Streetkid V, jackie lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:27:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smithandrogers/pseuds/smithandrogers
Summary: This wasn’t supposed to happen. Yet fate makes fools of all of us. You were an unsuspecting innocent but when the relic ends up in your hands, you find yourself plunged into a world you didn’t even know existed. Now you’re stuck with Silverhand and you need to figure out how this is all going to end.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. The Tower

**Author's Note:**

> A commission for anonymous on Tumblr  
> Basically, Reader ends up with the relic instead of V.

_Glass exploded around them. The world was suddenly glittering and sharp and so very loud. Rain slicked the ground beneath them and then there was nothing. V tried to remember which was up and what was down as the fell through the air, trying to cut through the panic enough to think about landing on his feet and not his head. It was sky and glass and there was Jackie falling with him and the case… It slipped from Jackie’s grip. He must’ve thrown it reflexively as they fell because it kept moving away and away. It missed the glass ceiling and kept going, tipping out of view and into oblivion as they crashed through._

_Then it was just all flashes and pain. When he finally hit the floor, V managed to roll over. There was no need to pass out and rub his face in the glass beneath him. He stared up at the sky, rain dripping down onto him from the newly made skylight above. Jackie groaned and stirred somewhere out of view. He blinked away the drops as they fell in his eyes. Shit, he thought, shit._

_*****_

[several days later, somewhere in Little China]

Music pounded loudly, the bass feeling like it was emanating from within your ribcage. This wasn’t somewhere you’d usually be, and yet here you were, being pulled through the pulsing, dancing crowd. Lexa had insisted this was the hottest party and that everyone who was anyone would be here. Not that you could tell. Who you were mattered very little when it was so dark and smoky that no one could see your face. You could tell the class of the partiers though by the way they glittered gold and platinum whenever the lights flashed over them. Shiny meant expensive. Shiny meant Mommy and Daddy were important.

Not that you were out of place. You were just as glittery, just as shiny. You probably knew at least half the gyrating bodies here, but that didn’t mean you liked it. You weren’t a party person. You were a take-away and movies on Friday and quiet Saturdays by the pool kind of girl. A rave? Not your scene. But Lexa had insisted. There was some guy here she wanted to impress, and you were too soft-hearted to tell her no.

It seemed like it took hours for you to find the other side of the dance floor. You stumbled as there was a sudden step down but all you could think about was how much easier it suddenly was to breath. But it was a brief. Just as you were taking a breath of real air, Lexa had spotted her target and was dragging you onward again. And suddenly you were sliding into a booth. The leather clung to the back of your legs uncomfortably as you tried to smile at the men staring at you across the table. You’d seen them in school. You couldn’t remember their names for the life of you, but they seemed familiar enough that alarms weren’t blaring in your head.

You let Lexa do the talking, happy to just sip the free drinks they were handing out and smile and hope that this would be over quickly. You already had a taxi on speed dial because things went how she wanted, you’d be going home alone. Really, you couldn’t have heard them talking if you wanted to, the music was deafening, only seeming to get louder as the night went on. You were just thinking about turning down the volume on your implant when Lexa was tugging at your sleeve. “Let’s go.” She mouthed, grinning broadly.

Finally, you thought, your escape from the night was within reach. Yet as you pried your legs away from the leather and stood, her hand was slipping into yours and she was leading you along again. Her other hand was taken by that of the boy she’d had her eyes on. He was leading you not towards the door but further into the club. You slipped through an archway; the hanging beads that decorated it cold as the scratched against your exposed skin. He led you down the winding hallways and suddenly you felt uneasy. Nothing good ever happened in back hallways.

You gripped Lexa’s hand tightly, but she just smiled at you. “It’s cool.” She whispered, “Cael says…”

Ugh, ‘Cael’? Now you were sure that something bad was about to happen. No one named Cael was reputable kind of guy. You were lost in your mental grimace and all you heard her say was ‘braindance’. Your throat grew dry. “Braindance?”

Cael had stopped in front of a door. He gave you one of those stupid confident smiles. “Yeah, they’re fun. You never had one before?”

You suddenly felt sheepish. “No.” You muttered reluctantly.

“Then you’re missing out.”

He said it as if it was a shame you needed to hide, and here he was offering an opportunity to correct it. The door opened and you were shuffled inside. Reclining chairs lined either side of the room with a large desk occupying the back wall. A sleezy looking little man sat behind it. He stood and addressed Cael, but you were already retreating. Your hand falling from Lexa’s as you did your best to fade into the background. This was not legal and your it made your skin itch just thinking about it. You side stepped the man as he started his upsell of his options, trying to pretend you were interested in the back wall.

You hummed a little when Lexa asked you a question, pretending you were listening, but you weren’t. Probably for the best that you would be able to deny as much as possible. You glanced to your right and noticed a door. It wasn’t visible from the front of the room, hidden by some shelving stacked with equipment. It was invitingly ajar. You glanced back at the group. They were all very distracted, Cael making a show of buying a braindance for Lexa. Curiosity pricked at you, suddenly growing like a weed in the back of your mind.

No one would know. No one would see. A little peak wouldn’t hurt. You stepped quietly up to the door and slipped through it with one last glance to make sure no one was looking. To your disappointment, it was just a utility closet. Kind of a dusty one at that. You frowned, slightly disappointed, and turned to leave when something caught your eye. Something shiny. Something expensive shiny. Suspicious considering the man in the other room didn’t look like an expensive kind of guy. Crouching down, you found a metal briefcase sticking out from under the bottom shelf.

As carefully and quietly as you could you pulled it out. Despite the shiny edges, it was a bit beat up and covered in muck. You still recognized the logo though. You’d seen it every day on your father’s lapel. _Arasaka_. Instantly, you knew this was stolen. But… what was it. Again, there was that curiosity, sinking its roots into. You fumbled with the latch but managed to hear the little pop and satisfying hiss as the pressurized seal released and the lid opened slightly. Liquid cooled nitrogen spilled out of it, spreading a fog across the ground. You opened it all the way with trembling hands. Inside sat a simple shard. Shiny and untouched. It glimmered at you invitingly.

Delusions of bringing it home to your father played in your head. It needed to be returned. Anything that looked like this had to be… A commotion outside brought you out of it. There was shouting and a shriek that was definitely Lexa. “Where the fuck is it!”

You swallowed hard. Damn it. You had a decision. You didn’t know it at the time but as your fingers closed around the shard, your life had changed. The decision you had made would be the decision to end all decisions… well except for one more. Which was as the shouting increased and you heard the cocking of a pistol, you slipped the shard into your jack. Where else would it be safest?

You slipped back into the room, acting as if you had been standing by the shelves the whole time, only to find chaos. Two men were looming over the braindance guy, pistols shoved in various facial orifices. Just when you thought you’d be able to go unnoticed you bumped the shelf and it rattled. The men looked up and suddenly the pistols were all pointed at you. They rushed forward, the one grabbing your arm and the other taking notice of the door just as you had. The two exchanged glances and the taller one shuffled through into the closet. As his back turned you saw the logo on his back. You recognized the weeping women and knew what the ‘Valentino’ scrawled across his back meant. _Gangsters_. Tears began to well up in your eyes as fear ran ice cold through you.

You watched the big one kick the suitcase angrily, cursing in Spanish. “It’s not here.” He hissed to his companion.

“Did you take it?”

You look up at the other one, your eyes meeting his. Surprisingly, you didn’t find cruelty there, just exhaustion. He didn’t want to be there just as much as you didn’t. You opened your mouth to answer, because being silent when you can count the rifling marks on the inside of a barrel it’s hard not to, but before you could speak the door at the other end of the room burst open.

You’re not sure what happened from there. The world suddenly went bright and loud and smoky. Your ears rang. Something hot and sharp sliced passed you and you shrieked. And then another something and another… Some part of you could quantify that they were bullets but before you had time to process, there was one more sickeningly hot sensation against your skull. And suddenly the world was black.


	2. The Wheel of Fortune

_It hadn’t been easy. And V had thought getting out of Konpeki Plaza had been hard, living on the run was harder. He hadn’t slept in days, and when he had closed his eyes, he would feel like he was falling, and he’d shoot right back up. Dex had fucked them; tried to off them at the safehouse. Arasaka wanted their heads. But they weren’t completely done for. Of all people, Evelyn Parker was still there, still wanting her chip, and was ready to split it all 50/50. They just had to find it and they’d have enough money to find some place to hide._

_And, of all people, Regina had come through for him. No sooner had they left Vik’s, licking their wounds, then she had a name for them. Gottfrid. V had never been so grateful he’d spent so much time running around the streets for her. She’d shrugged off his thanks because she’d done the easy part. The hard part was finding the little shit. Sleezes always talked; they never could stop themselves from bragging and when word got round that that particular piece of slime had gotten his hands on some shiny Arasaka tech, it had been as good a lead as they would have ever gotten._

_It took a lot of time to find him though. V had trashed the editor’s last studio, and they had no idea where to start looking. They’d hit up a lot of clubs. Selling backdoor braindances to rich kids with pockets full of mommy and daddy’s eddies was always a good gig. It took a few tries before they found someone willing to point the finger, and when they did V suddenly felt like he could breathe a little again. Like, maybe there was some way out of this spiraling mess._

_There wasn’t supposed to be anyone there when they kicked through Gottfried’s door. His stomach lurched as he saw a bunch of scared kids on the other end of his sights. No, no, no. This was just getting messier and messier. Him and Jackie did their best to ignore them, to not hear the girl’s shrieks or the guys’ protests. Just focus on Gottfrid. He at least deserved a little rough treatment. And then there she was, hiding in the corner. He’d never seen anyone with such a guilty look on their face._

_From there shit just went from bad to worse. He didn’t really remember much else besides the Arasaka agents storming the fucking room and bullets flying everywhere. There hadn’t been much time for much thought except escape. Which they did, just not alone this time._

_*****_

[The following morning, Vik’s place]

“And what are you gonna do when someone comes looking for her?”

You had never known pain like this. All your mods and implants, and nothing had ever felt like this. It was like someone had put a balloon in your head and then overfilled it. The pressure behind your temples was enough to make your eyes water. And that wasn’t even considering the feeling in your chest either.

The arguing had woken you up from the strange floating kind of sleep you’d been in. You opened your eyes but felt very confused. You tried to remember where you were, what had happened… but all you could remember was getting to the club with Lexa and then… it all felt like static and flashes of light. And music… and screaming. You shot up. There was something wrong with your vision, but alarm was pricking every sense. You were somewhere you weren’t supposed to be.

Sitting up so quickly was a mistake. Your head and stomach protested and you dry-heaved as a wave of pain rolled over you. Something wasn’t right. You felt funny. “She’s awake.” Someone said accusatorily, “Just shut up, okay. No need to make more of a mess of this.”

Your vision swam as someone came close, sitting down next to the bed you were laying on. “Who… who are…”

Your tongue felt funny. It was hard to get words to come out properly. “Take it slow.” The man encouraged, “You’ve been through a lot.”

Panic was all you could really register. His tone was soothing but as your vision stabilized you were getting a better view of the… well, the best comparison you could think of was a ‘chop shop’. “What… happened to me.” You said slowly, doing your best to make your body cooperate.

“You remember being at the club?”

Yes. You nodded. The memories were there, you could feel them just out of reach. You could picture Lexa taking your hand, leading you somewhere… “There was a shooting… at the club…” He huffed, as if this was difficult to explain, “You were hit.”

Your hands gripped the edges of the table, your knuckles going white. “I…” You tried to wrap your head around the idea of being shot.

This sort of thing didn’t happen to people like you. “But you’re here. You’re safe.” His voice was calming, despite his intimidating visage.

You’d never seen a doctor with such a prodigious amount of tattoos… or who wore sunglasses indoors. Your hands went to your neck, where your skin itched, to find a large bandage there. The back of your skull was unspeakably sore. “You took quite a hit to your dock.” He explained, “And with that shard you had inserted, it cause a bit of a power surge in your system, which is why you feel funny. Everything’s still coming back into sync. Had to reset everything.”

Your hand flew to your chest, which felt uncomfortably light. He chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, even those.” He leaned down and pulled a case out from under the bed, “But don’t worry, I took good care of them.”

He handed the case to you. “Daddy certainly didn’t spare any expense.”

Heat rushed into your cheeks. You weren’t embarrassed by the contents of the case but flustered by his tone. You took the case and clung to it, pressing it against your chest as if it were armor. Your vision was pretty clear now. It was dark here. So grungy. It was so far from the comfort of the clean and sterile clinics you knew. It was like you had been transported to a different realm. “You can call me Vik, by the way. What’s your name?”

Your name clogged your throat as the two shadows that had been lurking in the edge of your vision suddenly started moving closer and fear began to claw its way through your insides. You recognized them. You remembered the gun they’d pointed at you. Fear was replaced with hot anger. “This is your fault!” You snapped, suddenly finding your voice.

The bigger of the two held up his hands in submission, taken aback by the bite of your tone. The other shoved his hands in his pockets. “I want to go home.” You announced to the room. “I want to be taken home, right now.”

They all exchanged a look. Vik stood. “I understand, but you’re not really…”

“I. Want. To. Go. Home.”

Inadvisably, you slung your legs over the side of the bed and stood. Your legs buckled immediately beneath you and you crashed to the floor before Vik could catch you. Shit. You cursed to yourself, struggling to push yourself into a more dignified position on you back. Your arms complied mostly but your legs were utterly useless. Tears welled up in your eyes at this sensation of helplessness. Once on your back you stared up at the steel and concrete ceiling, wondering what you had ever done to deserve this.

Your blood ran cold as a figure suddenly loomed over you, straddling over your chest, and planting a hand on either side of your head. His long dark hair hung around you like a curtain as his face got in close to yours. His form twitched and fuzzed, going in and out of focus. Your own eyes reflected in his glasses in the dim light. His lips curled in a sneer. You should have been able to smell him, feel his breath or his weight as he was on top of you. But there was nothing. He was like a ghost. So very clearly real, but without any evidence of it.

Maybe this was just the state you were in. Maybe your senses weren’t quite right yet. Still, fear became your only thought. Every muscle flexed and stiffened as some part of your brain wrestled with the instinct to run or lash out, but your limbs were having trouble responding. He regarded you for a moment, head tilting to one side until finally he rasped, “Who the hell are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, comments and kudos are always appreciated


	3. The Hanged Man

The backseat of V’s car was becoming a little too familiar for your tastes. And being squished back here with Jackie was wearing you a little thin. Especially since it was never just the two of you. Every time Takemura came around, Johnny just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “You like him, don’t you? Think he’s some knight in shining armor. He’s in as much shit as these two gonks, don’t forget that.”

You were getting used to his pestering, though it was incessant. He found the littlest things to complain about. Your shoes. The way you ate noodles. Your implants were too shiny. And god he could not stop complaining about your taste in music. But Takemura was his favorite topic. Vik said that Johnny couldn’t quite know what you were feeling or thinking, but you were having doubts about that. He seemed to know exactly what you felt and thought the first time you’d met Goro.

He certainly seemed like a knight in shining armor. Someone from someplace familiar. Tall and stoic and so very calm. How could you not feel drawn to the aura of protection he emitted? Plunged into this dark and uncertain world, who wouldn’t gravitate towards the familiar? So Johnny found his opportunity to complain as much as possible. “Corpo rat” this and “rich bastard” that, and “what did he kill for those shoes” and even “his accent’s stupid” when he’d run out of things to talk about.

Today, Johnny had decided that he would squish himself in the backseat with you and Jackie and remind you of how death was looming all around. It was an odd sensation. Logically, you knew Johnny wasn’t actually there, but you’re brain couldn’t quite feel the difference. You were still pressed up against the door, leaving a person’s width between you and Jackie, who would give you looks of concern, but didn’t say anything. He was just glad you’d stopped screaming at the top your lungs every time you went out. “I just don’t understand why you’re even sticking with these guys.” Johnny continued, “Like any of them are really gonna fix our problem. All they’ve been doing is driving around for a week talking to people. And how many times have we been shot at?”

“We?”

Johnny grumbled something under his breath, folding his arms across his chest. “You fuckin’ know what I mean.”

For as much as the rebel rocker complained, it was comforting to know that he thought of the two of you as a unit. It made the situation a little more bearable. “I don’t know, Johnny, I feel like today might actually be productive.”

Johnny looked at you, an eyebrow arching above his sunglasses. “With V driving? We’re more likely to crash.”

That was fair. You were gripping the door with white knuckles. Both Jackie and Takemura had steady grips on their doors as well. And you hadn’t failed to notice that this was the third car you’d seen V drive in the week that you’d known him. And the shouts of angry pedestrians were unmistakable. If having Johnny stuck in your head wasn’t going to kill you, then V’s driving definitely would.

“But this… rendezvous is gonna be with someone important. I think it’ll be exciting!”

“This ain’t a spy flick, baby girl.” Johnny shook his head, “In the real world, things like this don’t go smoothly.”

You look over at Johnny, silently cursing him for speaking your fear out loud. You’d experienced more gunfire in the past couple days than you’d had in your entire life. As the car pulled to a stop, there was an undeniable rock in your stomach. V and Jackie really weren’t the luckiest guys around, and now by association, your luck was pretty dismal as well. While Takemura’s presence did make things seem like they were looking up, you couldn’t help but play out the worst scenarios in your head.

But as the door swung open and V greeted you with a smile and an outstretched hand, you found the anxious thoughts falling away. No matter how much trouble he seemed to get you in, he was always there to take your hand and pull you out of it. You hadn’t forgotten that this was all his fault. He was the one who’d taken you with them. He’s the one who got it in Arasaka’s head that you were in on the heist him and Jackie had done. And he was the one trying the hardest to fix it all. So you let him help you out of the car.

It felt good to be out on a busy street rather than hidden away in a quiet apartment. There was enough life and excitement to drive off the worries. You clung close to V as he made a path for you through the crowd, following behind Jackie and Takemura. “This won’t take too long.” He assured you, “Just got to pick something up and then we’ll drop you off with Vik and Misty.”

That was code for ‘got to go do something stupid, have fun with your babysitters’. Not that it really bothered you. The less trouble you got into, the better. You nodded, but said nothing, eyeing the people who walked past. Crowds worried you more now than a quiet street ever could. It wasn’t until now that you understood that the things you should fear most lurked in plain sight and not in shadows.

The store front was unassuming, some basic tech junk shop, and yet as you stepped in through the door, you felt your skin crawl. It was a small space to be in with the three men, made smaller by the sneering face behind the store’s counter. “Can I help you?”

V didn’t seem to have noticed the man’s nasty tone because he leaned against the counter, turning his sunny smile on the man. “I have a delivery I need to pick up. From Osada?”

The sneer faded slightly, but the man said nothing, just turning and disappearing into the back of the shop. Jackie leaned over and muttered something to Takemura, but you couldn’t hear what he was saying. You were distracted by Johnny, who had fizzled back into view, tapping the large storefront window. “Great place.” He said, mockingly wiping at the grime that covered the glass, “Even better place to get hit by a drive by.”

“Why would you say that?” You hissed as your insides coiled sickeningly.

His face went blank and he pointed through the window. You frowned and walked over, half expecting him to poke you and say “made you look”, but as you peered through the dirty window, you realized very quickly that he wasn’t joking. Alarm prickled across your skin as you watched several men with very visible guns stalk across the market towards the shop. “Um, V…” your voice came out like a whisper.

“You gotta speak up,” Johnny teased, “No one can hear you when you squeak, little mouse.”

Panic was rising, clawing its way into your chest as the men got closer and closer, and it became clear they were headed your way. Your throat tightened. It felt like a dream, it was difficult to find your voice, to speak up and be heard. You turned to find no one paying attention to you. The clerk and his stupid face had returned and was talking to V. Jackie and Takemura were arguing about something. None of them were paying attention to you, or the impending danger. Johnny clicked his tongue disapprovingly, “I would expect a corpo brat like you to be at least a little more commanding, but here we are.” Johnny leaned in close, “You’re gonna wanna hit the deck, princess.”

“Guys!” You finally find your voice.

Your shout was punctuated by the sound of shattering glass.

Suddenly, the world became a whirlwind of sound and sensation. Strong hands shoved and pulled at you and you found yourself face down on the ground, pressed up against the wall and out of the way. Gunfire clapped like thunder. “Would now be a bad time to say ‘I told you so’?”

You glared over at Johnny, who was laying on his back next to you, hands resting behind his head. He was practically lounging as glass and bullet casings fell down around you. You opened your mouth to snap back at him, but before you could decide on what insult to hurl at him, someone was grabbing your arm and pulling you up. As you found your feet under you, you fought the grip in panic. “Hey, hey, hey!”

It took a minute to register that the hand was V’s. As the chaos settled, your focus homed in on him. Your ears rang and your nerves were shot. “You okay?”

Despite everything, you couldn’t help but notice the way his thumb rubbed against your arm. Soothing. Calming. You nodded, wide-eyed. “Y… Yeah. I think so.”

That sunny smile returned, and he reached up, touching your chin. “See, you’re tougher than you think.”

He turned and led the way out of the shop, nonchalantly pushing open the broken door. Johnny scoffed next to you. “Gross.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos always appreciated! Thanks for reading :)


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